A Reason to Hate Myself
by Tyrror
Summary: When Mac decides that he would rather push away Bloo and all the other Foster's friends rather than be hated by them, Frankie is determined to find out what is wrong, and the truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. [MacOC] [rated for mild langage] [mm]


A Reason To Hate Myself

Disclaimer: I do not own Foster's or anything related to Foster's so please do not attack me or I will be forced to sick my muse on you.

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'_I always told you that it would be a cold day in July before I ever left you, but here it is, a warm day in August, and I just can't make myself do it. There are some things that a boy can't tell anyone, not even his imaginary best friend. I'll always love you, don't think I ever stopped, but for now, at least for now, I just can't go back'_

Mac stood before the rod iron gates to Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. It had been four years, four years of coming here every day to ensure that his best friend in the whole wide world would never be adopted, but today was different. For one it was raining, no, not raining, it was as if the sky was lashing out for all the pain that Mac felt at this moment. The rain helped to hide the fact that tears were streaming down the twelve year olds face as he finally moved from his position in front of the gate toward a small cast iron box to the right of the huge gates, the mail box. Quickly he slipped a single letter from the inside of his coat and placed it into the box. Taking one last glance at the house, twelve year old Mac let loose a single sob before running blindly down the street.

The rain was in his eyes and his lungs were on fire, but still Mac kept running, it was the only thing he could think of. Maybe if he ran fast enough he could outrun his thoughts, then he could just go back to Foster's and pretend none of this had ever happened, but he knew that would never work. Ever since he was eight Mac had always been a smart cookie. He could always figure things out better than most, but that doesn't mean he was happy. So he kept on running, some part of his mind hoping that maybe, just maybe, he could run faster than his thoughts and then he'd be free.

It didn't take long for Mac to become completely disoriented. Face it, he was running wildly through one of the worst storms of the year, the boy had an ice cubes chance in hell of keeping track of where he was going. Once he finally slowed down enough to realize where it was he had run to, he discovered that he was standing nearly half a block down from the park. Regaining some of his senses, Mac set that as his new destination. The world suddenly came back to Mac as he made his way toward the park. The rain was cold and sharp against his skin. He was soaked to the bone and knew that he was probably catching cold from it.

'_Maybe I'll die from it' _he pondered _'then I won't have to think anymore'_

Mac reached the park in a matter of moments and took up residency on a swing situated close to the southernmost boarder of the park. Once there he swung lightly back and forward, not on purpose, but merely as a reaction to being hit from behind by the savage rain. The world once again grew small and dim to Mac as his mind took over. As he looked down at his hands, his long brown hair fell forward, forming a sort of shield, blocking him away from the world. All that was left to Mac was his hands. He hated them as much as he hated his mind, as much as he hated the rest of himself.

His hands were small, just like the rest of him. For twelve years old, the boy was a bit underdeveloped, and he hated that just as much as every other aspect about his mind and body. It was impossible to tell what he hated more overall, but at this point it was most certainly his mind. He hated the way that he could never stop thinking, that his mind was always there, and that he just had to live with who and what he was, unable to change anything. A drop of warm water trickled down his nose and dripped down into the palms of his upturned hands, only to shatter into a million pieces. It was to warm to be rainwater, but the boy refused to admit that he would cry for something like this. He was allowed to cry because he lost his best friend, but not because of this, he wasn't a girl.

"Mac? Man, is that you?"

The words seemed to hang somewhere in the fog that was Mac's mind. It was only when they were stated a second time that they fully sunk in, causing Mac's head to spring up. His cold wet hair slapped against his face from where it had hung moments earlier and he made quick work to push it out of the way. The source of the voice came from the street. There, seated in the passenger seat to a black 1985 something or other sat his best friend, or more precisely, his best human friend. The boy's name was Daniel. He was, like most of the other boys in Mac's grade, about an inch and a half taller than Mac, with jet black hair that he kept spiked up most of the time, and blue eyes that could melt the hardest of hearts should he really try. At the moment he held his slightly tanned hand over his eyes in the famous 'I'm trying to see something that's too far away' maneuver. Mac wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry harder now that Daniel had shown up.

'_Why, of all the people in the world to show up now, did it have to be you? It could have been my mom, or even Terrance. Hell, maybe he could beat it out of me, but why you? Does God think this is funny or something?'_

Having momentarily lapsed back into his mental prison, Mac did not notice that his friend had removed himself from the car, all the while his mother complaining about how he was going to soak her car when he got back in. Daniel now stood nearly face to face, nose to nose with Mac. The breath from Daniel's mouth seemed warm and inviting to Mac and, unbeknownst to even himself, he smiled at his friend's goofball attempt to wake him from his dazed stupor.

"Mac, dude, why are you sitting in this mess? Come on."

Daniel took his smaller friends hand and began to drag him, none to easy-like, back towards the car. Before Mac even had a chance to protest he found himself soaked, cold, and shivering, sitting in the back seat to Daniel's mom's car. Somewhere in the distance Mac could hear Daniel's mom going on some more about her poor soaked car, but Mac was paying little attention. His mind was more focused on other matters.

'_Why does this always happen? Why do these things always come back? Why can't I escape them?'_

Mac continued to beat himself up, until he noticed something. Daniel had never really let go of his hand after he had dragged Mac to the car. Sure, he was no longer truly "holding" Mac's hand, it was more like his hand was resting gently on top of Mac's, but that was enough. Mac suddenly wrenched his hand away from his best friend as if he had been burnt. The sudden shock and confusion in Daniel's eyes was enough to bring tears to Mac's eyes. It was only by shear luck that Mac managed to hold them back.

"Dude, what was that about?"

"Here we are Mac."

The words from both Daniel and his mother seemed to collide as they arrived at the drive to Mac's apartment complex. The smaller boy felt trapped, he had to do something, to say something, but nothing was coming out. His mouth moved up and down like a fish caught out of water, gasping for breath, but it all seemed useless. Finally Mac managed to gasp out one thing.

"Sorry…"

The word seemed to hang in thin air for a second before Mac turned all of a sudden, and bolted from the car, tears streaming from his eyes once more. As Daniel made to jump across the seat and go after his friend his mother reached back and stopped him.

"Let him go," She said calmly, "I think he needs some time alone."

Meanwhile at Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends…

Frankie slammed the front door to the building and slowly made her way to the grand staircase. She was soaked to the bone and shivering slightly. Under her breath she kept muttering to herself.

"Can't believe I thought I could make it all the way to the gate without an umbrella…"

Her shoes squeaked as she made her way across the tile and up the stairs. The halls at Foster's were, as always, a maze, but that didn't hinder Frankie one bit as she maneuvered them coolly, if not coldly. Passing by what would be to any other person just a random door, Frankie didn't look up from the papers she was holding as she waved and announced,

"Hi Eduardo, Wilt, Coco, Bloo."

Frankie's trek continued, up stairs, around corners, down corridors, and through door before she reached a large, engraved wooden door. Rapping on the door very sharply twice, Frankie pushed the door open without waiting for a response and there in front of her was her grandmother, Madame Foster, seated calmly behind her desk.

"Grandma, mails here." Frankie said, looking up from the pack of letters to glance at her grandmother.

"Oh goodie, anything good."

"Actually yes, there's a letter here with no postmark, like it was just put in the box."

Frankie, upon this announcement, pulls a small blue envelope out of the pack of papers and hands it to her grandmother. The envelope said plainly on the front.

'Madame Foster,

Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends'

Madame Foster made quick work of opening the envelope, flipping out the paper inside with speed and agility you would expect of a much younger woman. The letter we written on a blank sheet of paper, there weren't even any lines, yet the rows of words and letters seemed to follow and invisible line and never once tilted one way or the other. The print was small and fine, almost like that of a highly practiced playwright, only there was something to it that was innocent, like the writing of a child.

'Dear Madame Foster,

There are some unchangeable circumstances that have arisen as of late that will prevent me from being at Foster's every day at three o'clock. I ask that you grant me a short vacation for the time being and, should I not return in what you consider due time, do as you will. But please, for the time being, allow Bloo to live at the home without my visitation due to the circumstances. Thank you for your time.

Mac

P.S. Frankie, tell Bloo I love him.'

"Well that's simple enough; I'll go tell that big overstuffed bunny of mine not to put Bloo up for adoption."

Madame Foster jumped down from her unreasonably tall chair at her desk and scuttled toward the door, hollering for Mr. Harimond at the top of her lungs. Yet Frankie stood looking down at that small piece of paper, now lying calmly on her grandmother's desk. Something didn't seem right, and she was going to find out what it was.

Later that day, at Mac's apartment complex…

When Mac had run in, soaking wet and sobbing, he discovered that he was lucky by the note on the fridge.

'Mac,

I went to go visit Terrance at his dorm. Will probably be there late if not all night. Don't make a mess.

Mom.'

After discovering that he was home alone, Mac managed to strip off his wet clothes and get into a pair of shorts before climbing into bed and curling into the fetal position. Sobs wracked his body as he lay there, crying into the pillow that he now held close to his body, hoping for comfort. The whole time he continued to mutter to himself.

"I can't…I won't…it's just weird….it's not normal…why me?"

Two hours later the clock in the hall chimed that it was eight o'clock. The sunlight had dimmed outside and the street lamps had just come on. Inside Mac's apartment all was silent and dark. Mac had managed to stop the sobbing, but tears still escaped from his eyes every so often, and he had not moved for the whole of the two hours he had been home. His mind was clouded and confused. He had no idea what was going on in his mind or his heart, but it was tearing him in two, and he only wished that it would be over. Mac nearly hit the ceiling when there came two sharp raps on the front door.

"Mac?" Frankie's voice wafted down the hallway and into Mac's room.

'_That girl never does wait for an answer does she?'_

In fact, that was one of Frankie's worse habits, entering without permission, but her true worst habit was butting into other peoples lives. She rounded the corner into Mac's room to find him curled up, his back to her, apparently asleep to any who would walk in, but Frankie was not just anyone, she was Frankie.

"I know that I shouldn't just come in, but the door was open, and I was worried…"Her words seemed to fade out as she ran out of reasons to be in Mac's room.

"Go away." Mac's words were short and harsh sounding, but Frankie was his friend for four years now, and she could sense the pain that lie behind them.

"Mac, I don't know what's wrong, but I want to help, please let me help."

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

The concern in Frankie's voice caused Mac to finally turn over and face her. What he saw there brought him to tears. Frankie stood amidst the massive waste land that was his room, soaking wet and obviously cold, but it was her eyes that got him the most. Deep within her eyes they shone with love, the kind of love that just seems to shout, "No matter what, I'll still be there for you," and that was the last straw. Mac shot from the bed with speed that was unheard of, wrapping his arms around the taller girl's waist and burying his face in her midriff, sobs once again wrenching themselves from his body.

It took Frankie the whole of ten minutes to maneuver the combination of her and Mac over to his bed and get them both seated. She now half held Mac in her lap, his face still planted firmly against her, but he no longer cried quite so hard. Frankie heard a small sniffle from the boy below her and decided that was her signal to try again.

"Mac, I can't help you unless you tell me what's going on."

Mac didn't respond at first, but eventually moved a hand to point toward a small notebook concealed beneath his pillow. Gently removing one of her arms from the boys back, Frankie plucked the notebook from its hiding spot and flipped the cover open. The page was entirely full of hearts, big hearts, little hearts, hearts in pen and hearts in pencil. Suddenly it dawned on Frankie.

"You're in love aren't you?"

Mac merely nodded his head.

"So all this is over a girl? Mac don't be…"

But Frankie was cut off when Mac shook his head quickly from side to side.

"Wait, it's not about a girl?...So then…it's about a boy?"

Frankie's words were concerned, yes, but not harsh, or disapproving, merely concerned. There was a long silence in the room before Mac managed to gather up the courage to gently shake his head up and down before he once again burst into tears. Now fully aware of the situation, Frankie gently comforted the twelve year old that she held in her thin arms. Once Mac had begun to calm down she realized that he was no longer looking into her midriff, but more towards the floor, and was holding her for dear life. He was afraid that she would want to leave him there now that she knew.

"Mac," she whispered gently as she bent down to whisper directly in his ear, "I don't care, and I don't think any less of you."

That was what Mac had been wanting to hear. He suddenly lunged forward and wrapped his arms around her neck, placing his face in the crook of her neck and once again beginning to bawl.

"I was so afraid…that everyone would hate me…I hate myself…and I don't know what to do…I'm just so confused…"

His words came in between sobs as Frankie, who had been flattened by Mac's sudden jump and now lay underneath him, attempted to both comfort him and turn to her side or some other less awkward position. Eventually she had managed to push her self up onto the headboard so that she was once again in a sitting position. Mac now held onto the girl for dear life, as if he had nothing left. Slowly he drifted into a tormented sleep. Frankie sat there, not knowing anything else to do, and hoping that his mother would not come home and find them like this.

Mac awoke with a start as the clock in the hall chimed eleven.

"No! Don't leave me!"

His scream even scared Frankie, who had been awake and thinking for the last few hours. Realizing where he was Mac settled down, but looked as if though he may cry any second. Frankie decided now was just as good a time as any.

"Mac, we need to talk."

Mac only responded with a slight grunting noise.

"You need to realize that you have true friends, friends that will love you no matter what, just because you have this one tiny thing different doesn't mean that you aren't the same Mac and it doesn't mean that you are any less our friend."

Mac continued to remain silent.

"Mac…" Frankie paused, "Mac I want you to come back to Foster's with me and talk to your friends, they're worried."

Mac shuddered slightly at the thought of talking about this.

"When they heard you weren't coming back for awhile we all knew something was wrong. That's why I came over here. I won't tell them anything that you've told me, it's not my right, but I want you to tell them. They need to know, and once they do, you don't have to be afraid anymore."

"I don't want to." Mac's voice cracked as he went silent again

"Mac, I know it's scary, but all the friends at Foster's love you, even Harrimond, though that can be hard to see. At least talk to Bloo and Wilt, they love you no matter what."

It took another half an hour before Frankie had convinced Mac to talk to the friends at Foster's. Eventually she managed to convince him somehow and got him out of his bed and into suitable clothing. She found him a t-shirt and a pair of jeans and left him to dress himself. When he walked out into the hallway he didn't look too the worse for wear. His eyes were indeed bright red and slightly puffy, and all of his clothes were found on the floor of his room so nothing was without wrinkles, his hair was tangled and matted in places, but it was so long that she couldn't see any way to fix that quickly. She quickly scruffed the top of his head and gave him a reassuring smile before leading the way to the Foster's van.

They arrived at Foster's at ten 'til midnight and for once in her life Frankie was thankful that the members of the Foster's household did not have a regular sleep schedule. The rain had stopped somewhere around ten, Frankie thought, so both of them made it to the house water free, that is except for what little of Frankie was still wet from going to Mac's. Once inside the large and very colorful mansion, Frankie led the way up staircases, around corners, down corridors, and through doors until she stood before a normal sized, unmarked door. This was the room that Bloo shared with his three best imaginary friends Wilt, Eduardo, and Coco. As always Frankie knocked twice and then stepped in unannounced, leading the smaller red-eyed boy behind her.

Bloo stared, Eduardo jumped, Coco laid a large plastic egg which broke open to reveal sixty or so various assorted candies, and Wilt acted as if nothing had ever happened. Mac smiled a weak smile that immediately faded from his face as he looked pleadingly at the taller girl who had drug him here.

"Mac, little man, to what do we owe the pleasure?"

Wilt's voice was cheerful as always and gave you the feeling that nothing could go wrong, but only served to make Mac slightly less nervous. Slowly Mac started to speak.

"I…I need to talk to you about something…Maybe you should sit down."

Mac spent the next fifteen minutes trying to explain things as best he could. How for the past few weeks he had discovered that his feelings for another guy had transversed the line of friendship and moved to romance. He cringed after this was out, and it was true that the room was shocked, but not in the way he thought. Wilt was the biggest surprise of all. Rather than going into stunned silence like the rest of the room, Wilt congratulated Mac, hoping that he might find love to be all it should be. In fact, all the room seemed to be genuinely accepting of this and excited at the prospect of relationships. The only one upset was Bloo.

"So this means you're replacing me? Did I bore you or something? Am I not a good friend anymore?"

"No Bloo, that's not it at all," Frankie explained.

"Yah, Bloo, you'll always be my bestest friend in the whole world, this is just, well…different." Mac tried and failed to explain.

The conversation seemed to die down shortly after until…

"Mac," Frankie said suddenly

Mac turned his head to glance up at her where she was seated next to him on the floor.

"You never told me who it was."

A blush suddenly crept up into Mac's cheeks at the thought of such a thing. How could he possibly just say something like that, especially when there was nothing really there? Sure, he had feeling for the guy, but it's not like there was anything going on. Suddenly it dawned on Mac.

'_So what if my friends are okay with it, that doesn't change the fact that he'd never even think about being with me. I mean, why would anyone want to be with me, none the less a guy. That would just make him like, a double outcast or something. Dating the puniest boy in the whole school'_

Mac's mood turned somber all of a sudden as he glanced down at the floor. No one in the room was quite sure what had just occurred to make his so downtrodden. Wilt was the first one to catch on.

"Don't you even start to think like that, anyone would be lucky to have a guy like you, be they guy or girl."

No one had ever heard Wilt talk this way before, he always had that kind, gentle tone, but now he had the tone of a mother scolding her child for doing something stupid. At this point it also made sense to Frankie, though the more innocent in the room seemed to still be lost, mainly Bloo and Eduardo, no one knew is Coco was still even paying attention. Mac's head shot up at the sound of Wilt's retaliation and went to say something, but Wilt continued.

"We can't help you make this work if you don't trust us. We're supposed to be your best friends now come on and let us help you."

Wilt's face suddenly took on a look of surprise at what he had just done as he muttered apologies under his breath for such an outrageous outburst like that. He didn't know what had come over him, but Frankie did, and she felt quite the same. Looking over to Mac she gave him one of those "I care and that's why I'm doing this" looks. Finally Mac decided to give in.

"It's Daniel, my friend from school."

A blush once again crept into Mac's face, but it was Frankie's next comment that surprised Mac beyond anything else that night.

"Ahhh, yes, I know him…"

The stunned look on Mac's face was priceless and Frankie had to laugh quickly before she continued.

"He's called and stopped by a few times, looking for you."

"He knows I come here still." Mac's head suddenly hung like it was the most shameful think in the world.

"Yes, he does, and he seems to think it's cool as well. Besides that I'd have to say that your tastes aren't half bad."

Once Mac had figured out what she had said his face was once again priceless. Somewhere in the background, Bloo, who had completely missed the point of that line, was commenting on how good Mac's taste was because Mac had made him, but most of the room just ignored him. Mac's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts.

'_I can't just come out and tell him, he'll think I'm a freak, but…what else is there to do. I want to tell him, I want him to know, but…'_

The night wore on and the next morning the five members of the group discovered that they had one by one fallen asleep on the floor of the room. Mac rubbed the sleep from his eyes to discover that Frankie was asleep leaning against the wall and he currently had his head in her lap. Moving gently so as not to wake her, Mac decided that today was the day. All the talking last night had given him what little courage he was sure that he'd be able to muster. Slipping quietly through the house, Mac made his way to the front door. He was feeling relatively proud of himself at this point; he had made it through the entirety of the Foster's house and not woken a single person.

The sun was bright the beginning of this day as Mac trod lightly down the front walk and onto the sidewalk. He was scared, when he thought about it, but for now he figured he would just enjoy the day and hope that it all worked out in the end. It did not take long for Mac to reach Daniel's house, it was merely a few blocks from Foster's. Slowly he approached the door and rang the bell. It was only then that Mac realized it must be close to seven in the morning and a Saturday to boot. From the other side of the door Mac heard a shuffling noise and then the door swung open wide enough to reveal the smooth features of his best friend along with his bedraggled black hair which stuck out in all direction. Mac would remember that moment as being one of his friend's most adorable looks. Daniel swung the door open farther, stifled a yawn, and then plastered a big grin more common of a certain blue imaginary friend on his face.

"What's up, Mac."

"I can't be your friend anymore."

The words were even shocking to Mac, who had been planning them out in his head all morning. Slowly the grin on Daniel's face changed to a look of deep regret.

"This is because of the whole hand thing in the car isn't it? Damn it, I knew I should never have tried anything…" His words were cut off when Mac finished his phrase from earlier.

"I can't be your friend anymore, I need something more."

The look of regret on Daniel's face changed in an instant back to glee of the highest caliber. Looking Mac dead in the eyes with those eyes of his that could melt ice he asked.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Tonight, seven o'clock, Foster's. I'll get us a movie and clear out the family room, unless you don't like that, this is my first time trying this so…"

Mac was rambling, now that the fullness of what he was doing caught up to him. His hands were shaking and his palms were shaking. Luckily for him, Daniel was taking this a bit better.

"It sounds great, Mac. See you tonight." Daniel winked once before slinking back inside and closing the door.

Mac turned and walked off in stunned silence, halfway down the block the truth of the situation sunk in.

'_I just asked Daniel out, and he said yes…I have a date with Daniel…tonight…'_

The fullness sunk in about the time he crossed through the front gate of Foster's at which point in time he let out an excited "Woohoo!" at the top of his lungs, causing the front doors to burst open and him to come face to face with Frankie.

"What happened? Are you okay? Where did you? I was so worried."

"I went to Daniel's; we have a date, tonight."

The look on her face suddenly changed from fear to pure enthusiasm.

"We have to get you ready, we have to get you cloths and your hair done and your make-up, oh wait you're a guy, well your hair…"

Frankie continued to prattle as they moved into the house where Mac now happily told the rest of his closest imaginary friends about the date, all of whom agreed to help plan it out. First thing first, they had to get Mac ready.

Later that evening, at Foster's…

The whole evening was planned out. After Frankie had taken Mac back to his house and gone through every article of clothing the boy owned she eventually settled on a cute pair of jeans on which Mac had doodled on the one knee in blue pen. She said it added to the look. For a shirt, Frankie had picked a baby blue t-shirt that came down just past his waist and complimented his eyes and hair. As for his hair she could do no better than brush it out over and over again, as she was now doing for what Mac was sure was the millionth time.

"Frankie...please...my hair is fine"

Mac waved her away as she descended with the brush yet again. It was fifteen 'til seven and Mac was trying to make sure that the friends couldn't ruin this. Wilt was to be posted at the door to the family room so that the two of them could have the movie to themselves, but just incase, Frankie was to be there with him. Everything was set; there were snacks already in the room. Frankie had retrieved the movie from the store earlier and all that was left was to wait.

There was a knock on the colossal front doors that echoed through the front hall of the house. Frankie waited a moment to be sure that she didn't look to anxious, then answered as casually as she could.

"Daniel, nice to see you, Mac's waiting in the family room, this way please."

Her attitude toward Daniel seemed more like Mr. Harrimond than anything else, but when she turned and began to lead Daniel through the door to the family room she caught Mac's eyes, winked, and mouthed "good luck."

When Frankie left the sound of the door closing echoed through the small room for a second. Daniel stood there, unsure of what to do, until Mac moved towards the high-backed, over-stuffed couch and motioned for him to follow. Both sat down on the couch, relatively nervously, and Mac leaned over the small coffee table to retrieve the remote which he used to both turn on the T.V. and start the movie with a practiced sequence of buttons. The opening of the movie began to play on the screen, Mac realized now that he had no idea what movie Frankie had got for them.

On the screen a gun fired, a girl screamed, and Mac jumped into the air only to land and clamp himself onto the nearest object, which just happened to be Daniel's arm. After he realized what happened Mac jumped back, the blush rising to both of their cheeks. As the movie continued it was obvious that it was one of those spooky/ sci-fi movies and Mac cursed Frankie who had obviously planed this. Twice more throughout the next ten minutes Mac jumped and ended up attached to Daniel's arm. Each time Mac retreated a little less until the forth time he did it, he just let go of Daniel's arm but sat almost pressed against his side.

Slowly Mac felt Daniel's arm snake its way over his shoulder and he leaned into the embrace. It did not take long before Mac had his head resting gently against Daniels chest, listening to the beating of his heart. The thumping that met his ears was soft, but faster that normal and Mac realized that he wasn't the only one nervous here. Deciding to make the next move, Mac moved his hand forward and slowly intertwined his fingers with those of his best friend. Now with one arm around his shoulder, and the other hand held tight with his own, Mac felt safer and more loved than he ever had. When he had first taken Daniel's hand he could hear the other boy's heart beat faster and grinned at the effect he was having on him.

They remained like that for the majority of the movie. Mac no longer jumped quite so high as before due to the security found in the other's arms. When Mac breathed in he could smell Daniel beneath him. It was a kind of scent that made something in his chest jump into his throat and his mouth to dry up. Daniel shifted slightly underneath him and Mac looked up at his face. They met eye to eye and Mac wanted to melt under the other boy's gaze. He felt warm, and safe, and could feel Daniel's breath hot in his face. There was a glint in Daniel's eyes that made something in Mac jump. His breath caught in his throat as the final space between them was closed and their lips met. Daniels lips were warm, and soft. They carried a feeling of love and caring, and just a hint of teenage lust.

When the kiss broke, Mac looked deep into his friend's eyes and saw everything that he would ever need, but it was Daniel that spoke first.

"I think I love you…"

The words hung in the air, suspended in time. Finally Mac leaned forward and pressed his lips against Daniel's as an answer.

'_I love you too!'_

His mind screamed it as they broke for air. "I love you too." He said, a big goofy grin displayed across his face.

At the back of the room there was a sliver of light that could be seen across the floor if either of the two boys would have bothered to look at anything else than the other. The source was a crack in the door through which one eye, covered by red bangs, and another wobbly eye extended.

The movie ended shortly after and the two boys made to leave the room as though nothing had happened. Walking nonchalantly out the door, they passed Wilt on one side of the door who grinned largely and Frankie on the other, who asked,

"How was the movie?"

"Uhhhh…not bad." Lied Mac who had not seen more than the first twenty minutes, if that.

Daniel left shortly after at which point Frankie lifted Mac off the ground and squeezed the life from him. Placing him back on the ground she said.

"You go boy!"

"You were watching weren't you?" Mac accused, slightly annoyed.

"Only for the last part." She sounded so like a school girl it wasn't funny.

Mac's annoyance faded, he wouldn't trade his friends for anything, especially after they had done all this, just for him…

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A/N: Well, that's all. I hope you liked it. This is my first ever Foster's fic so please review. Thank you for reading.

MK


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